XXY│A multidisciplinary, cross-border, video-musical artwork

€20,074

85

EN Two years ago, considering the world around, one in which the question of “gender” was the focus of many discussions, many women were still oppressed and objectified, and many men couldn’t peacefully express and develop their feminine side. In Clotilde’s mind, grew a notion that soon became an urgent desire to recount the feminine essences through her eyes, those of a female artist of her time.

EN She began to research the women who have marked the history of humanity, the major feminine figures one finds in myths, protest songs, Western literature, and folk tales from across the world. Bringing the vision and experience of a twenty-first century woman to bear on these archetypes, she conceived 7 portraits - 7 essences of womanhood, of the “feminine” - embodied in 7 feminine archetypes, who might resonate with every man and woman. It follows both a linear tempo, the one of a lifetime and a circular one, the one of the creation / creative process.

Images filmed on the beach of Fort-Mahon (France) - Dance by Keiko Sato - Music composed by Fred A. Parker

EN A piece in a multi-disciplinary space that affects all the senses, starting with hearing and sight, and adding smell, touch and taste. Dream-like and highly evocative images to draw in the viewer, with little narration, and sharp, decisive editing, without cross fades, similar to the aesthetics of Dadaist and surrealist cinema, or the films of the Beat Generation.

EN Inasmuch as this work aims to be an ode to the womanhood, whether embodied in man or woman, the question of the body shouldn’t be an obstacle to the message and the sensorial journey. It was thus that dance would perfectly embody these 7 essences. Indeed, a dancer’s body contains something that reveals the perfect balance between animus and anima; a place beyond genders that allows the subtleties and issues of each of these portraits to be translated as accurately as possible.

EN With a view to transposing the universality of the "feminine", the dance companies will come from several countries (France, China, USA), and the film shoots will take place at different locations, predominantly in France and the United States. Why these two countries?France, because its emblem is Marianne, a woman who is free, responsible and a mother; it remains the country of the Revolution, of liberté, égalité, fraternité. The United States, because this is a country where women have traditionally made their voices heard in defending women’s rights; human rights and civil rights, an example of endurance and resistance.

Shots of women in their daily life embedded in a mosaic of archival footage of women who have made their mark on history - Archival footage from the INA & the Simone de Beauvoir centre - Musical improvisation of Gregory Dargent's oud and Clotilde's voice

EN In order to best translate their specificities and differences, the music of each of the 7 portraits is composed by a specific composer, chosen from amongst the composers with whom Clotilde has already collaborated, and whose musical universe will best serve the project.

EN Lasting around 30 to 40 minutes, XXY will comprise 7 portraits that may be viewed separately or in series, each consisting of an emotional object of images and music. At the core of each film of images stands a dance body. The centre of each musical piece features a singing voice.

EN XXY is conceived as an immersive experience; these 7 short films engage viewers at their core, to look deep into their convictions and preconceived ideas. They may be viewed together in a linear screening or, separately, through installation art with spatial intervention and performance.
They will be shared in immersive exhibits, spatial interventions or screening in public spaces, cultural institutions and multidisciplinary festivals.

Immersive exhibit
Each portrait has a specific installation through space and sound, playing on the screening surfaces and sound space shaping (Stereo Dolby 360 °, uni-directional speaker, individual headphones etc ...).Examples of possible installations:Rhea: Screened on the walls of both sides of a narrow corridor, to create the feeling of a passage /path to another state.
The sound will be broadcast via a uni-directional speaker system set up along the route, in order to sharpen the feeling of the an initiatory walk.Ruby: Screened on individual screens embedded in children's furniture deliberately regressive. Individual listening systems by screen or via a dedicated Smartphone / tablet application.Juliette: Screened on the ceiling of a dark room. The film will be seen while lying on pillows or in a rocking chair. The sound will be played over stereo dolby 360° system with a set of pan effects to enhance the dizzy effect.

Performances
Apart from installations, XXY may also be considered as a living artwork with a band playing live music in interaction with dancers, performers and XXY images mixed by a VJ with live images of the performance.

EN Interactive elements
Educational workshops in partnership with Sylenpso
An audience of children, teenagers, and employees along with trained mediators will participate in two-hour workshops, immersing themselves in the project with different points of entry.

Magda : a numeric, collaborative, and multimedia portraitWe would like Magda, the 5th portrait of XXY, to be interactive and collaborative using multimedia tools and specific technology. The viewers will focus on their sensorial and emotional experiences, and question their feminine self beyond gender and culture.
A crowd-sourcing technology will allow each viewer present at the venue to become a contributor. They will download a free smart phone and tablet app to film themselves talking about their feminine self. These films will then be integrated in real time to Magda. In this way, the viewers will actively be a part of Magda.

EN Beyond the artistic process, XXY described from the very beginning a great human adventure, gathering more than 30 artists - men and women of different cultures - who agreed to share a part of their feminine side in this artwork to increase its universal resonance.

EN Thanks to the contributions of Clotilde and Tzig'Art, to prior donations, and to the financial support of the MFA and the SPEDIDAM for the production of the musical elements of the project, we have so far been able:

to film the images of 4 portraits out of 7: Rhea, Ruby, Juliette and Ishtar and some images of the portraits Magda and Enk'Aï

to compose all of the music pieces

to record the music for Magda and Ishtar

to collect some of the archival footage from the INA (French for National Audiovisual Institute) and the Simone de Beauvoir centre.

EN In order to finalise the project for September, during which we should have the first public presentations, there remain a number of actions to be taken according to the following provisional schedule :

March - April 2016 : Recording of the music for Hannah, Juliette, Ruby and finalisation of the music recording of Ishtar.
Completing the gathering of the archival footage for Magda by the INA and the Simone de Beauvoir centre.

April 2016 : Recording of the music for Enk'Aï and Rhea.

May 2016 : Shooting of the images of Hannah in Iceland
Mixing / Mastering of all the music pieces

July - August 2016 : Editing all of the images.

August 2016 : Assembly of music and images.
Achievement of the entire project and co-ordination of the media broadcast and distribution.

We require € 20,000 to finalise the creation of this artwork, including:

to produce the last portrait Hannah, which deals with the matter of dominated and broken womanhood, and whose images will be shot in Iceland, with the Chinese contemporary dance company of the famous transgender choreographer and dancer Jin Xing, the Shanghai Jin Xing Dance Theatre.

the editing of the filmed images and visual post-production.

And if we should obtain more, we may be able to produce and develop the "multimedia, digital and interactive" aspect of the portrait Magda.

The entire budget will go to production fees (10 artists and 5 technicians salaries, transport and accommodation costs during 5 days for the Chinese dancers in France and in Iceland) and to pay the Kickstarter campaign’s fees.

Julie Baron for her amazing help with contacting foundations ; Emmanuel Delattre (Sylenpso, Le CLIO) for his early support and great brainstorming on educational interactions; Mathieu Fournet(Head of Film, TV and New Media Department – Cultural services French Embassy in the USA) for his great support and help with broadcast in the US; Paul Freches (Attaché Culturel, Consulat général de France à Shanghai) for his great support and help with Chinese contacts; Virginie Giachino (DoncVoilà Productions) for her precious advice on broadcasting; Roland Glasser for his unequalled translations; Thomas Gravis (Have a Cigar) for his early belief in the project and his precious advice; Marie Lallemant for her tiger eyes; Le Deuxième Regard'steamfor their support and spreading the word; Colin O’doherty for his great editing advice; Amy & Anouchka (Span Productions) for their early belief in the project and their precious advice regarding filming in the US;Pauline Thomas for her early belief in the project and usefull contacts; Tzig’Art's team for their constant and unyielding support; Aurélie Martin & Laurence Wurtz (Secrétariat d’Etat aux Droits des femmes) for their early belief in the project and amazing contacts; Christian Sermet (Musée des Confluences) for his early and constant belief; Yasar Sharif for letting us stay during 10 days while filming in the Bay Area, USA.

Risks and challenges

EN : Produced under the patronage of the Secrétariat d’Etat aux Droits des Femmes (French Secretary for Women’s Right), this project has already received commissioning support from the SPEDIDAM and the MFA. The INA (French National Audiovisual Institute) and the Simone de Beauvoir centre will provide archival footages for the 5th portrait Magda. And everybody in the team is ready to go to the next step.
We can take this project to the finish line. But with your help it will be much better!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge €25 or more
About $28

EN : Thank you for your great support !
You will receive a kit of 15 postcards (special Kickstarter edition), made with pictures from the images of the 7 portraits, one of which is signed by the director.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge €75 or more
About $85

EN : Thank you for your precious support !
You will receive one limited edition T-shirt (select your size), illustrated by the artist StayReo, who painted the graph for the stop-motion of Rhéa’s portrait.
http://stayreonews.blogspot.fr

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge €100 or more
About $114

EN : Thank you for your fabulous support !
You will receive one limited edition sweatshirt (select your size), illustrated by the artist StayReo, who painted the graph for the stop-motion of Rhéa’s portrait.
http://stayreonews.blogspot.fr

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge €1,000 or more
About $1,138

EN : Thank you so much for your fantastic support !
You are an honorary producer. You will have your name in the credits, a DVD of XXY (limited edition), and the complete pack of 15 postcards, 2 albums and 2 T-shirts.